He knew it was a bad idea, and quite frankly, he didn’t care. Saturday afternoons had officially been declared football days. In his opinion, it wasn’t even real football, but it mattered to Tony. Not just mattered… it was an obsession. His lover had been living with him less than 6 months when the new season had arrived, and he discovered *exactly* how obsessive a former player could be.

It had started with the couch. All of a sudden, his comfortable old plaid couch had disappeared, and Tony’s leather sectional had made an appearance from his storage locker. The second sign? His cable bill jumped - drastically. Half a dozen packages that he didn’t know even existed appeared on the bill. He’d nearly wanted to hit something when he saw the new bill; who knew that so many movie and football channels even existed?

Next came the stash of beer, and random people showing up on Saturdays. The first, he didn’t mind. It made puttering around the house a bit more enjoyable, not to mention more fun. The second? Not so much. He tended to be a quieter person, and so while a random half dozen people were camped out on his couch (rather, Tony‘s couch…. His was now in storage) he tended to make himself scarce. The only upside, besides the beer? Lots of random appetizers seemed to appear in the fridge - things that were fantastic bar food that Ducky most *certainly* would not approve of.

Then it was the betting. Of course, since he tended to be the most sober one of ‘The Bunch’, as they were now deemed… He got to hold the money. Luckily, his lover decided that he deserved the standard bookie’s fee of 10%. This got rid of any arguments he could think of - The Bunch would normally go thru about $200 of betting on a standard Saturday, so he tended to feed his coffee addiction for the week just because of holding onto a few dollars here and there.

The further into the season it got, however, the more he resented it. He knew he had no right…. He’d invited Tony to make his home his own, and he had. He resented being left out; feeling like he was too old, too out of the loop to join in. He’d always watched football, of course… However, he never was rabid about it like his lover was. So Saturdays became ‘Frat boy day‘. And Friday nights normally involved an extra bottle of bourbon being bought.

Until one Saturday night after everyone had left, everything changed. Tony had met him down in the basement and demanded to know why he was a ghost in the afternoon. He didn’t have a good excuse, and Tony had proceeded to drag him upstairs and show him *exactly* how important he was.

The next Saturday, he’d staked out a spot on the couch ahead of time. When ‘The Bunch’ showed up, they immediately started teasing his lover, asking how much the Sex Machine had had to bribe him to put in an appearance. He could only smirk and go grab another sixpack (or three) as Tony tried to come up with a pithy comment in return. When he came back, he was greeted with slaps on the back and an open spot. No one had even said a word when, during the second game of the day, he’d managed to sneak his arm around Tony’s shoulders. Well, at least until Ryan (or was it Brian?) decided to start harassing Tony about being domestic and being a little housewife. He could only laugh in return.

Of course, it didn’t last. Eventually, there was the Ohio State/University of Michigan game. Or ‘The Game’ as it was simply known. Of course, Brad Pitt (the doctor, not the actor) had shown up, and there was good natured ribbing all around. Well, at least until it was half time, when Ohio State was losing. Tony had retreated upstairs for a bit, and he couldn’t help but follow him into the bedroom. Locking the door, he shoves Tony up against the wall and pulls his pants down as he drops to his knees, sucking Tony length down as he kneels. Needless to say, Tony's grumbling about ‘pain in the ass Wolverines’ is replaced by pants and moans.

By the time The Game was back on, they’re both situated on the couch, and Tony really doesn’t care if Ohio wins or loses and Brad wins that hundred bucks they‘ve bet - he already looks like the cat that got the cream, and the rest of the guys are teasing him about his half time snack as he laughs.

“Who said I was the one that was hungry?” he smirks as he leans back with his hands behind his head. Wide eyed, everyone stares at Jethro, who merely smiles and shrugs.

The next week, he finds himself being teased about being a housewife, and he merely smiles patiently. He plays the gracious host, refilling the snacks and beer as needed, and finds that he no longer minds his house being invaded on Saturdays - rather, he looks forward to it. He knew falling in love with Tony would make him happy, but he had no idea that it would fully turn his house back into a home again. And every Saturday night, as he’s helping to clean up all the empties and the half eaten snacks, he realizes that he’s really happy with how everything has turned out.

Not that he’ll ever let Tony know, of course. The man would be impossible if he knew.